In 2016 and 2017, “98 Belgians withdrew their anticipated euthanasia declaration that they had submitted”.
Belgium has authorised this type of declaration since 2008. 170,942 requests for euthanasia have been submitted to date. Of these, “128,291 are still active whilst the other 42,651 have expired”. In terms of the expired declarations, “29,842 records have not been confirmed. The rest relate to people who have died in the mean-time”.
Gert Huysmans, President of the Flemish Federation for Palliative Care believes amongst other things that “people who issue their declaration when in good health underestimate the survival instinct that drives them when they become ill”.
La Libre (01/09/2018)